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The British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association has appointed a chief economist to boost the credibility of the UK trade body's research, 10 months after the sudden departure of his predecessor.

The BVCA named Colin Ellis, a former senior economist and manager at the Bank of England, as its chief economist. Ellis will oversee the BVCA’s research into trends and issues affecting the private equity industry, according to a statement.

He will also provide commentary on the economic environment for members and their portfolio companies, and build relationships with government, investors, academia and the public.

Ellis replaces Roger Kelly, who joined the BVCA in October 2008 but left in August last year, according to a BVCA spokesman. Kelly was hired amid a drive by the association to provide trustworthy research on private equity following criticism from Jon Moulton, co-founder and former managing partner of private equity firm Alchemy Partners, that the BVCA used “dodgy” statistics.

Kelly said: “In the year that I was at the BVCA I did a huge amount to address the data issues, which had largely resulted from a lack of research capacity in the organisation, and I can confidently say that the research output of the organisation improved significantly during my time there.”

A spokesman for the BVCA said at the time that Kelly left for personal reasons and did not have another role planned at his departure. But Kelly said the BVCA hired him while he was on sabbatical from the European Investment Bank Group, to which he returned at the end of his sabbatical.

The BVCA initially hoped to replace Kelly within two months, with BVCA chief operating officer Andrew Graham taking on some of Kelly’s responsibilities in the meantime.

Ellis joins from Daiwa Capital Markets, where he has served as its European economist since 2008. He is also a visiting research fellow at the University of Birmingham. His roles at the Bank of England included writing the Inflation Report, running the Quarterly Bulletin and coordinating the Bank’s regional offices.

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Simon Walker, chief executive of the BVCA, said: “It is more important than ever to demonstrate the contribution private equity and venture capital makes to the economy. By appointing someone of Colin’s pedigree, we enhance our ability to provide vigorous, evidence based analysis of our industry.”